Romania, Finland and Croatia signed the Joint Trio Declaration on gender equality

Romania, Finland and Croatia, the Member States consecutively holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from January 2019 to June 2020, signed on Friday, in Brussels, in the margins of EPSCO, the Joint Trio Declaration on equal opportunities between women and men, a document setting out the objectives, measures and joint actions specific to this area.

“The Declaration represents a commitment to both supporting women’s participation in the labour market and women’s entrepreneurship, as well as supporting women in vulnerable situations, being necessary to include it in the implementation of the long‑term policies, including in the Europe 2020 Strategy, especially in terms of increasing employment and reducing poverty”, stated the Minister of Labour and Social Justice, Marius Budăi.

Gender equality is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union and, also, one of the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and the Trio Presidency will continue to promote gender equality on the basis of the work programmes and initiatives developed by the preceding Presidencies.

The document proposes the development of a European Strategy for equal opportunities and treatment between women and men after 2019, to continue the EU i’s Strategic Engagement for Gender Equality, in order to strengthen efforts, both at decision‑makers level, at the highest level, as well as at the level of the implementation of public policies and specific activities.

The Strategy is necessary both to ensure accountability and long‑term coordination, as well as effective implementation of the measures and monitoring the results of the public policies on gender equality in the EU.

The Presidency Trio has set several joint objectives, including promoting women’s participation in the labour market by facilitating their professional reintegration, strengthening the efforts to create a favourable environment for women’s entrepreneurship, improving the quality of life of all women in vulnerable situations.

For the Governement of Romania, promoting gender equality, protecting women and girls in the country and abroad, are fundamental values, indispensable for the evolution and progress of any society, applicable in all spheres of public life: education, health, labour market, participation to decision‑making, the economic empowerment of women and, not least, the labour migration among women and girls.

During the Romanian Presidency are planned a series of events in Bucharest, respectively two high‑level international conferences, on ” The Condition of Modern Women - Between Empowerment, Leadership and Gender Discrimination “, from the 29^th to the 30^th of Mai 2019 and “Perspectives of the Istanbul Convention: new horizon - a paradigm change for all stakeholders”, from the 4^th to the 6^th of June 2019.